Thrift Officer Gets 30 Years

April 6, 1990|By New York Times

DALLAS — In the harshest punishment yet for any executive convicted of fraud in the collapse of a thrift institution, the former chairman and chief executive of Vernon Savings and Loan Association was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in prison.

In a stern 15-minute lecture before sentencing Woody F. Lemons, Judge Robert B. Maloney of the Federal District Court in Northern Texas said, ''Even if fraud on the public trust cannot be prevented, it will at least be punished severely when it is discovered.''

Federal officials have that estimated the failure of Vernon Savings, which was closed in November 1987, cost taxpayers $1.3 billion. It had assets of about $1.4 billion.

At the time, it was the most costly taxpayer bailout in the savings industry. Other failures have since been larger.

In an interview from his office in Washington, L. William Seidman, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said he was satisfied with the sentence.

''This double standard we've had with respect to stealing $500 from somebody on the street and looting institutions for millions has got to be stopped,'' he said.

Lemons, 47, was one of six Vernon executives, including the institution's former owner, Don R. Dixon, accused by federal regulators of participating in the ''systematic looting and wasting'' of Vernon's assets.